Wisdom's Discovery
by Samantha's Library
Summary: Have you ever wondered what would happen if Athena saw the world from Percy's perspective? No? Well, she didn't either. But when Hermes drops The Lightning Thief in her lap, Athena starts to realize that there's more to mortals then what meets the eye./A/N: Hard topics; such as, depression and suicidal behavior. Contains several references, but no excerpts from the series.


**Hello everybody! I know I've been absent for a long time, I've had a hectic few months, but I apologize. Everything's pretty calm for the moment, but I expect to become busy again in the next week or so. Please don't expect me to upload in any sort of pattern, or soon for that matter. Thank you.**

 **Anyway, about Wisdom's Discovery. So, this idea came to me after a conversation with my best friend, Twin-books (She hasn't been active at all recently, but go check her out anyway), and I was inspired to write it after my good friends Ethempat and RingWraithYJLOVER told me it was a great idea (go check them out, they're amazing writers). The idea basically was: What would happen if Athena saw the events of the PJO and HoO series from Percy's POV and I was so excited to write it! So I hope you all love the finished product.**

 **Something to note is that there is mention of events in all five Percy Jackson books as well as references to events in Rick's other series; however, I took NO excerpts from the actual books, so you will have had to read them to fully understand what happens in this one-shot (Well, with the exception of Rick's other series, you don't have to have read Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase, or The Trials of Apollo to enjoy this story). It is also written in the way I see Athena's personality and thought process, so expect a decent vocabulary as well as long paragraphs.**

 **WARNING: This does contain mature topics. Such as depression and suicidal behavior.**

 **That being said…Enjoy! :D**

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The smoothed and dull grey rock beneath her was cool and lifeless. The seat was a simple one, simple blocks stacked on one another, smoothed out to give the appearance that the whole thing was carved from one massive rock. It lacked satisfaction, however. It wasn't as if the throne was particularly uncomfortable or that it wasn't sturdy, it just didn't really catch the eye like the other marvelous royal seats around her. She wasn't upset with her throne; on the contrary, she felt it suited her, and the other gods seemed to agree.

Often the goddess found herself sitting at her throne, contemplating so many extremely different but equally compelling ideas and questions. Just now, with as limited movement as she could muster, she examined her surroundings, counting the doors and windows, looking for any possibility of forced entry into the space. She thought about all the possible means of counter-attack should a surprise ever come their way, of course considering the beautiful but massive marble columns that made quite the impressive obstacle. This, among research and laughing at mortal stupidity, happened to be how she chose to pass the time.

When you were immortal time was almost nonexistent, since you had an unlimited amount of free-time and age was no obstacle. But having an impressive amount of free-time and the ability to do almost anything you please with little possibility of unwanted repercussions like old-age and ultimately death, meant that there was also an equally impressive amount of boredom that came with it. The wisdom goddess was sure that must have been one of the reasons why the gods were so all over the place, always trying to do everything they could to keep themselves busy. That kind of empty realization that there is basically no point to anything because nothing will ever last, was enough to drive someone mad. Rather than succumb to that kind of self-punishment, though, Athena chose to focus her mind on other things.

Her intellect was of course her strong-suit, but aside from it basically being in her job description it served as a valuable tool of distraction. She never ran out of things to think about, because potentially everything could be expanded upon in a thought process. Her mind often had a way of running thoughts together and focusing her attention on multiple things at once without effecting her sanity. Which, upon further inspection, might have been one of her many skills as the wisdom goddess, but was quite impressive nonetheless.

Unsurprisingly, the other gods often found her staring off into space or even talking to herself as though she were repeating instructions to someone else (for the most part, she was silent though). If not for the other Olympians being fully aware of her habits, Athena was sure that they might have called her insane, or accused her of being depressed. She never smiled when she gazed off into her own little world, she never showed a sign of being a living being, aside from breathing. Although, from what her peers had told her she wasn't even sure of _that_ sometimes. Often it was described to her as unsettling and hard to ignore, but they seemed to ignore it quite well despite.

This was the way her mind worked. With long, descriptive thought processes and a seemingly endless well of knowledge that flooded her head. When the other gods saw her like this there was no denying that the wisdom goddess was coming up with a plan or an idea. Her stormy grey eyes only showed a mere glimpse of her incredible intelligence and that was fierce and threatening enough on its own, but when enemies saw her in a moment like this it was almost perfectly clear that it was their last chance to run, because there was _no_ mercy.

Athena was just contemplating a question about what ultimate power was when she briefly glimpsed hands in front of her eyes and heard a small thud, then vibrations ran through her elbows. She unfolded the hands that were laid against her chin and lifted her elbows off the surface. In a single swift movement of her head she looked downward to see a book had been placed in front of her and then tilted her head slightly upward to demand what was the meaning of this and who had disturbed her. She found herself lock eyes with the god of messengers and thieves.

"May I ask what this is?" She gestured to the book and narrowed her eyes at Hermes in a mix of curiosity and suspicion. Hermes gave her that signature trouble-making grin he didn't dare give her often and Athena found herself resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"I thought you could use something to occupy your time." He told her. Athena raised an eyebrow and scooped up the book in her grip, taking her first real look at it. The piece of literature was less than an inch thick and a relatively decent size. The dominating color of the cover seemed to be either sea green or teal and placed vertically close to the spine were the words:

 _Percy Jackson & The Olympians_

Athena immediately directed her gaze away from the book and up at Hermes, a glare very evident on her face. "Is this supposed to be funny?" She asked. It wasn't exactly a secret that Athena did not like Percy Jackson, the ever-popular son of Poseidon who seemed to have a habit of causing trouble before ultimately stopping it. The lack of relationship between her and Perseus had further soured when he started dating her daughter. The wisdom goddess was unamused.

"No, I actually thought you might be interested in what this book has to say." Hermes explained, cautiously. "It's kind of a record of Perseus' life or almost a warning." Athena did not seem the least bit impressed and slowly placed the book back down on the surface before her, glaring at Hermes all the while. "Alright, not interested?" He noticed. "Maybe you'll find it more intriguing when I tell you that it's all in the son of Poseidon's point of view." Athena didn't know why but that somehow _did_ intrigue her.

"I'm assuming he found a way to do this safely?" She inquired, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Or else he's as idiotic as I thought." She added a few moments later. She gazed down at the book once more, this time noticing the cover art that depicted a boy with jet-black hair (who she could only assume was Perseus), rising out of the water to gaze on a stormy New York city. The Empire State building stood out impressively and lightning flashed just past it in a nice display. The lighting flashed just under the first "I" in _The Lighting Thief._ For a moment, Athena almost laughed to herself wondering if this was some form of confession. It was a well thought out cover, with an acceptable amount of mystery about it.

"Yes," Hermes answered her. "From what I gathered it seems he went to a mortal and talked about getting his story published, of course it was safer that the mortals believe it was fiction so they decided to stamp the books with that mortal's name." Athena nodded and ran her finger across the author's name. _Rick Riordan_ sure seemed like a mortal name, she was sure under normal circumstances she would have barely blinked twice at it.

"Books…plural?" Athena questioned, daring to meet Hermes' trouble-making gaze once more. "That does explain the lack of substance." She gestured to the book as if it were the most disappointing thing in the world. A book that wasn't even an inch thick seemed far too lacking for any demigod's supposed autobiography, let alone Perseus'.

"There's five of them." Hermes provided. "This is, of course, the first." Hermes' blue eyes gazed down at the book in Athena's hands and a snicker escaped his lips. "I have to say, "The Lightning Thief" was a bold choice of title, considering the son of Poseidon's name is right next to it. I have a feeling that this _Rick_ had some say in it." Athena leisurely flipped through the pages and read the information, nodding absently.

She narrowed her eyes further with every sentence and glared at Hermes. "Where did you get this?" Hermes grinned as if he enjoyed her frustration.

"I borrowed it from Hestia who told me she bought it at a bookstore, for whatever reason." The messenger god explained. Athena rolled her eyes, not bothering to explain to him that some people actually preferred to _pay_ for the hard work someone put into the making of their things. Somehow, she couldn't see the god of thieves perceiving that easily.

The wisdom goddess finally gave into her overwhelming curiosity and flipped over to the first page of the actual story. The first line was certainly compelling and already raised some questions for her. It wasn't even moments later did Hermes tap the surface with his fingers and spin on his heel. "I'll leave you to it then." He disappeared not a second later and Athena again found herself resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

She had read the whole book in precisely an hour and felt the need for more substance immediately afterwards. It was astonishingly fascinating and unsurprisingly Perseus was just as audacious, stubborn, and hot-tempered as Athena had gathered, perhaps even more so. She did find herself feeling slightly remorseful by the time she'd finished the read, but the feeling was barely even a prick in her consciousness. Who would have guessed that the intolerable son of Poseidon would have strong justifiable reasons for his actions? It was information she appreciated having the knowledge of.

Although, Percy's point of view tended to be blunt and bitter, it also had a refreshing wealth of information in it and was surprisingly witty. Despite hating every second of his one-sided insults and passive aggression, Athena had to remind herself that she needed the full story before she should deliver her judgement. After all, she wasn't going to let her anger destroy her pride and reputation. She had to be calculating and observe the situation from all angles before she came to a decision. It showed patience and resilience, which is something that admittedly slipped her mind occasionally. She was interested to delve more into Percy's known fatal flaw, personal loyalty, and see how it made him incredibly caring and a little too quick to put his trust in people.

The son of Poseidon seemed to be quite intellectual, despite _constantly_ giving off the appearance of a fool. Perhaps the reason he would consistently get such low grades had a bit to do with the boy constantly underestimating himself. It wasn't simply humility, it was something much lower than that. He seemed to have little respect for himself, which was infuriating to Athena, because she believed that well everyone should be humble, they also needed to have an acceptable amount of respect for their own person. Yes, there was such a thing as _too much_ self-respect, but from what the wisdom goddess had observed the son of Poseidon was nowhere near that and never would be (which was perhaps the only good thing to come out of it).

After a few more moments of assessment, Athena decided she wasn't quite satisfied with one layer of this five-layer story. Turns out her lust for knowledge was stronger than her disdain for a certain sea god and his children, specifically one protagonist in a book series, named Percy Jackson. She decided if she was going to examine more of this story she'd need the next four books, the only problem was that even though she knew Hestia had them, she wasn't willing to borrow them. Too many tales ended in violence because someone took something that didn't belong to them and Athena-knowing she wasn't one to give books back-wasn't willing to repeat history, especially not with the gods.

The only logical course of action in this instance was to find Hestia, of course, give her the book back and ask her how to find them. It didn't take too long, Hestia was just where she often was, sitting next to the hearth. Athena immediately felt a sense of peacefulness in her presence and an alluring warmth overcame her entire body as she lowered herself to her knees next to Hestia. Hestia turned to her and Athena couldn't help but feel absorbed in her gentle auburn irises. "Hello, Athena." Hestia said, sparing a small smile. Athena returned the smile.

"Greetings, Hestia." She replied, nodding gently. When she spoke, Athena ignored everything else around her. The wisdom goddess was quite fond of the goddess of hearth and home. When they spoke, Athena felt she almost had an equal and it was nice to occasionally abandon that barrier of defense she'd built up in the other gods' presences and just enjoy someone's company. The other, more sensitive, and cruel gods, didn't often leave open opportunity for those forms of pleasure.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Hestia asked. Athena let her smile grow.

"Well," Athena held out her hand and The Lightning Thief materialized in her palm. "I came to return this to you. Hermes told me he "borrowed" it." She smirked and Hestia rolled her eyes, sparing Athena a smile as she gently retrieved her property.

"Hermes says a lot of things, I noticed." Hestia replied and the goddesses shared a laugh.

"I'll give him grief about it later at your expense." Athena offered, knowing that Hestia was peaceful.

"If you wish," She replied. "Although, it's really no matter to me since it has been returned. Hermes will find himself facing justice elsewhere, I'm sure." The wisdom goddess watched as Hestia flipped through the book, assessing for any damages, and then let it disappear in her hand on a whim. "I should have known better; the wisdom goddess wouldn't dare accept any damaged piece of literature." Hestia smirked at Athena and Athena nodded. "So, what else has left me graced with your presence?"

Athena took a deep breath and her smile fell away out of habit. Whenever she was serious about something, especially something that she was unsure about, all emotion seemed to slip away. "I do have a question." She admitted, a few moments later.

"You read the book then." Hestia replied, smirking almost smugly, but that wasn't quite it. The wisdom goddess couldn't help but notice that it wasn't a question either. "I can't say I'm surprised."

"How did you know?" Athena questioned. It wasn't as if she didn't have her theories, she just needed a confirmation. Hestia grinned and Athena felt the warmth brought on from her smile wrap around her almost like a blanket. It was too bad Hestia was a maiden goddess, because Athena was certain she would have made a spectacular mother. Although, being a maiden goddess herself, she understood the struggle.

"Speaking as one who knows and understands the contents of that book-specifically the protagonist, I understand why any god or goddess, particularly yourself, would have some questions." Athena nodded in understanding. She understood that her extreme dislike for the son of Poseidon was common knowledge. She could put two and two together.

"Well, my question might surprise you." She told her. Hestia raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Oh?"

"I know, because of Hermes, that you bought it at a bookstore, not that I needed to be a genius to figure that one out." Athena inwardly rolled her eyes. "So, my question to you is: where is the best place to find the series quickly?" The corner of Hestia's mouth rose a little, almost as if the hearth goddess knew something Athena didn't. The wisdom goddess tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in intrigue. "What is it?"

"Well," Hestia replied, a small giggle escaping her lips. "It would seem you _have_ surprised me. I hadn't once thought you'd be interested in the son of the sea god." Athena straightened her posture and gripped her knees. She was having trouble believing, even for a second, that Hestia would consider that to be the case.

"I'm more interested in his point of view, actually, not the boy himself." She corrected, expecting to get some sort of acknowledgement from Hestia that she understood. Instead, Hestia grinned knowingly again and Athena felt frustrated. Here was a woman (not even a woman-a goddess) who Athena considered to be almost her equal in intelligence, daring to consider that the wisdom goddess was interested in the sea god's son as a person for even a second; what's more, being fully aware of Athena's past experiences with Poseidon.

"In answer to your question," Hestia replied, changing the subject. "There's quite a nice well-known bookstore chain in the mortal world…I wouldn't be surprised if you had heard of it." Athena nodded, implying she was listening and understood. "It's called Barnes & Noble…?"

Athena smiled. "I have heard about it, yes." Hestia laughed. "I've paid a visit once or twice, not so much anymore, there's less and less literature there that's to my liking as time goes on."

"Alright then, you'll find the whole series in the kids' section or maybe in middle grade." Hestia explained. "If you have trouble, which I do so doubt you will, you can just ask any employee about it, I'm sure they'll know exactly what you're talking about." Athena raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" She inquired.

"Contrary to whatever assumption you may have made, the series is very well-known." Hestia smiled almost as if she were proud of that. "I have to say, I really enjoyed the read myself. Although, Percy's writing lacks…something more." Athena greatly agreed with that.

"Well, thank you, Hestia." She said. "I much appreciate the information." The wisdom goddess stood up and smiled down at the hearth goddess.

"You're welcome, dear." She replied, turning her eyes back to the hearth. Athena turned to leave the homey place when Hestia called her back. "Athena?" She turned herself back around.

"Yes?"

"Percy is not to be blamed for anything else you read, understood?" She said. Athena found herself very surprised. Hestia was normally a giver, she didn't usually make bargains. There must be some very controversial content in the next four books awaiting her.

The wisdom goddess sighed. "I understand." She replied. She had just glimpsed Hestia's content smile as she faded away.

"Enjoy." Said the hearth goddess.

…o0o…

Arriving at the nearest Barnes & Noble was the easy part. All she had to do was throw on suitable attire for the occasion and will herself there, which, in both cases, was exactly as easy as snapping her fingers. She was there not moments after she'd spoken with Hestia and the wonderful smell of ink and paper filled her with a giddy, child-like joy. There were several isles of books in either direction, spines of all colors, sizes, and genres poked out of the shelves. This Barnes & Noble also offered comfortable seating places and large windows that let in a lot of natural light. It was a beautiful sight.

There were maybe twenty to twenty-five people occupying the building, Athena didn't waste her time counting heads to see if she was right, but she was willing to bet she was very close if not completely right. In the distance, she heard the whiney voices of two children trying to convince their mother to buy their book, it wasn't easy to ignore them, but she took up the challenge. Deeper into the kids' section as she started to come across the kind of books she was looking for, Percy Jackson was boldly displayed in the middle of it all, next to Harry Potter. Athena made note to pick up Harry Potter later.

Coming up on her target she noticed that off to her right two girls were talking to an employee and normally she wouldn't have cared, but this time the conversation interested her. "Percy Jackson has always been one of my favorites…" the employee explained. "My husband tried to get me interested in the Heroes of Olympus, but I picked up the first book and I couldn't get past the first character. He was just so…"

"Boring?" One of the girls offered and the girl next to her noticeably flinched. Athena could tell that that girl was uncomfortable. She had dark brown-almost black-hair and chocolate brown irises and the girl who had spoken must have been her sister, because they looked very similar. The only difference between the two girls was the batman baseball cap the previous girl was wearing. There were facial differences and they wore very different outfits, but the wisdom goddess could see people mixing the two up.

The employee was a short, perky blonde woman, with sky blue eyes. She had the most obnoxiously vibrant smile Athena had ever seen. "Yeah!" The woman agreed. "That and he seemed really confusing to me."

"His name's Jason Grace," The girl with the batman cap helpfully provided. "And He _did_ lose his memory." Athena smiled, it was mildly entertaining to hear three women talk about something she knew so much more about. And She might agree that Jason wasn't the most interesting guy either.

"My husband told me about that." The employee replied, nodding. "But, I don't know, I just didn't like him."

"I guess he was sort of boring…" Batman girl replied, rubbing her neck awkwardly, implying she didn't think that at all.

"He was _really_ boring!" Her sister corrected, with a bold voice. "I didn't like how Rick wrote him."

"It wasn't his best work." The employee agreed, laughing along with the sister.

"Jason's actually one of my favorite characters." Batman girl said. "But, I suppose I can see where you might be coming from." Again, Athena got the feeling that the girl wasn't being completely honest. It was amazing how easy it was to notice that this girl had been through these conversations before, she'd probably argued and tried to defend her "character" the first couple of times and then just gave up on it. Whether you believed it or not, Athena could understand the feeling.

Deciding that the conversation was starting to disinterest her, Athena grabbed the Percy Jackson books she had come for and eyed The Heroes of Olympus series. She'd been both disappointed and somewhat pleased to find that the cover art had been updated for the Percy Jackson series and the artist did quite the spectacular job, it looked so real, even though she knew the real people being depicted looked very different. The Heroes of Olympus series had gorgeous cover art and although Athena understood she should never judge a book by its cover, she always appreciated a nice looking and/or smart cover.

After much self-debate over whether she should get both the Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series or not, Athena decided she'd get both. She didn't want to have to come back more often then she needed to. She made her way up to the cashiers, who must have been dealing with all twenty-five customers she'd seen, because there was quite the line. The wisdom goddess rolled her eyes as she held her massive stack of books, wondering if she would benefit from acting a little bit more like a certain god of thieves she knew in this one scenario. Luckily, a male cashier happened to notice her uncomfortable state and called her over. "Here, let me help." He offered, taking all her books in one impressive balancing act and smoothly transitioning into scanning them all individually.

"Thank you." Athena told him, happy that there was at least one male in this miserable building who she wouldn't mind calling a gentleman. The man smiled brightly at her.

"So, you like Percy Jackson?" He asked, a few moments later. Athena immediately laughed at how ridiculous that question was, despite knowing full-well he was referring to the books. She grinned at him and gestured to the books.

"One might think so." She replied. The man laughed and stacked all her books in a bag before telling her the total. The wisdom goddess handed him the otherwise useless green paper and gratefully took the bag. "Thank you."

The man smirked. "You're welcome." He replied. "I took the liberty of double bagging it for you." Athena made a show of sighing gratefully and smiled at him.

"Much appreciated, sir." She told him, before making her way out. As soon as she passed through the door way she dropped the smile and made the whole bag of books disappear at her whim. "Good." She prepared to teleport herself when she spotted a little boy with his mother staring at her wondrously.

"Mom!" He screamed, excitedly. "Did you see that?!" He yanked on a lady's blouse (who Athena could only assume was his mother) and rocked on his heels in excitement. "That lady just made all her books disappear!" The kid pointed directly at Athena, acting more annoying than the wisdom goddess had patience for. The kid's mother sighed and smiled apologetically at Athena as she looked down at her son.

"Kyle," She said, the stern tone of her voice drawing the boy's attention to her. "We do not point fingers!" She lowered her son's hand and dragged him into the Barnes & Noble without saying another word. Athena just rolled her eyes and willed herself back to Olympus. Maybe there was a reason the gods couldn't be around their own children, they might end up incinerating them just for how aggravating they could be.

…o0o…

Back on Olympus, in the comforts of her own attire, Athena was avidly reading the Percy Jackson series with barely a regard to the passerby. She was more than confident she almost said yes when someone asked her if she was deaf, thankfully, that was a disaster she avoided. With some of the questions her peers were asking her though, she became all too aware that they were getting worried. "I don't think this is natural," Hephaestus commented, while watching her flip pages. "Even for the wisdom goddess."

"Should we do something?" Hermes asked.

"If I may suggest something," Aphrodite proposed. "How about getting her head out of those books and her eyes on a man?"

"She's a maiden goddess." Artemis reminded her, sounding tired of Aphrodite's silly statements.

"That makes it even more important." Aphrodite replied, her sentence being followed by ten pairs of divine eyeballs rolling in unison. That was including Athena, who-unbeknownst to them-was listening.

"Would all of you move yourselves elsewhere?" Athena asked, gathering the group's attention. "I am simply reading and none of you have ever batted an eye once before, so leave me be." All the Olympians turned their eyes away without too much more effort and Athena focused her mind on the books, filling up with more questions.

One of the shocking things she noted about The Sea of Monsters, was that Percy's opinion of himself seemed even further disrespectful and his obliviousness was painfully abundant. Athena found herself wondering even more then she did before, how her strong, intelligent daughter, fell for such an idiot. Of course, just as with the first book Athena felt mildly sympathetic. Percy was brave, although very lost and confused. Mostly, his attitude was absurd and his slow realizations obnoxious. Yet, the wisdom goddess couldn't bring herself to stop there and she moved on to The Titan's Curse.

Athena was pleasantly surprised to see Percy's bitterness become less heated and more logical. His mind quicker and his reflexes sharper. There was room for improvement, certainly, but it was a much more pleasant read. She hadn't noticed that kind of growth before. In this book, his self-sacrifice became even more apparent and the guilt because of his fatal flaw was an interesting detail that Athena hadn't ever considered. The book was a whirlwind of emotion and it became less and less about Percy and increasingly about everyone else. The inclusion of Rachel Elizabeth Dare was a peculiar one, though. Athena wouldn't admit it if you asked, but she was starting to laugh at Percy's sarcastic statements and peculiar observations. She was grateful seeing that kind of improvement in Percy's character and gladly picked up The Battle of the Labyrinth.

It was perhaps the most interesting read thus far, considering Athena knew so much about it. So much was going for this installment already. The set-up was masterful and well-paced. It seemed silly of her to think, considering she was there, but she felt like she was standing and watching all of it. Percy had grown, it was pleasantly obvious. He was more aware, except for when it came to girls Athena had come to find when reading about the interactions between Rachel Elizabeth Dare and her daughter. Athena found herself smiling through the whole thing in anticipation, she enjoyed the whole story-line so there wasn't much else to say about that. When Rachel hit Luke in the eye with her hair brush though, Athena had a hard-time containing her laughter. Mortals' internal instincts were rather amusing. Before she knew it, she was on The Last Olympian.

Here, Athena became very aware of why Hestia was so defensive of the son of the sea god. Here, she saw a tidal-wave of growth in just twenty-three chapters. She saw Percy pull himself together and jump into action, she saw her daughter take a dagger for this boy (and suddenly it became more apparent to Athena as to the reasons why), she saw Percy step-up into a leader (although wishing anything else), and when offered immortality, the hero turned it down. Athena felt so much in this book. Things like unexpected pride, denial, anger, understanding, and just so much remorse. When she closed that book, she was proud of her daughter and the choices she'd made, she was in denial of how much she'd judged Percy and still wanted to believe he was horrible, she was angry at how Luke and Percy saw the gods (although they had different opinions), she understood why Percy acted the way he did, and she was remorseful because she caused so much pain.

Athena rarely ever cried, maybe that was why it felt like she was burning up from the inside out. She ran her fingers through her thick brown hair and bit her lip in deep thought. This was ridiculous, it was just five books from a demigod's perspective so why was it eating her up so much? Athena brought her hands down to support her chin as she leaned forward. Maybe that was it, all this time she'd never considered how she would look from a mortal's point of view, the gods only ever knew they saw deities like them as intimidating and powerful, but according to these books those thoughts went far deeper than that.

At the time, the gods had been told it was their fault that people like Luke, Ethan, and Silena ended up the way they did, but they just brushed it off without a second thought on the matter. None of them had ever let it sink in, none of them had ever truly thought about it. Once doing so, it was clear to Athena that is was true, and painfully so. These kids were just that; kids. They were connected to the gods whether they wanted it or not. They looked up to their immortal parents and prayed for recognition, for just a little bit of love, and they got almost nothing. The gods had turned their backs on their own children, the heroes who sacrificed so much in their name, all for what? A law? They had every right to feel bitter.

The more she thought about it, the more she discovered. It left her in a state of shock, her first time ever feeling what it must have been like to have an overload of information. Her pride was forgotten that instant. Then, suddenly, Athena once again heard a slap on the surface in front of her and her eyes met the sticky fingers of Hermes. She tilted her head upwards to lock eyes with him once more. "You read all five of them?" He questioned, amazed.

Athena looked to her side where a stack of books sat, the spines facing away from her. "Yes, I did." She replied, without too much emotion. Hermes smirked and picked up The Battle of the Labyrinth flipping through it swiftly, almost as if he was counting the pages. Athena raised an eyebrow at his unusual gesture.

"Alright, I'm curious," He said, slapping the book down in front of her, which forced Athena's attention towards it. Athena narrowed her eyes and gazed back up to see his blue eyes sparkling with anticipation. "What did you think?" Athena would admit that she was barely conscious of his words, she was too busy thinking about it quietly to herself, so maybe that's why her reply wasn't so surprising.

"Tell me something," She said, with so much boldness and authority that four additional pairs of eyes turned their attention to her. Hermes nodded in a gesture for her to continue and Athena turned her gaze away from his eyes and instead to his hands and body, watching for a reaction. "Have we ever considered…?" She began, knowing more eyes were on her. "…that Perseus might be suicidal?" Hermes blinked, his posture completely struck stiff.

"What?" He asked, the mischievous smirk falling into a concerned frown almost instantly. His exclamation got the other Olympians' attention and soon her own father was curious as to what was going on. Athena ignored all their stares, especially Poseidon, who she did not need comments from right now. "Why do you ask that?"

"We're aware Perseus' fatal flaw is personal loyalty, correct?" Athena replied. Poseidon narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion.

"Yes, we are." He replied, crossing his arms in a show of distrust. Athena ignored him once more and continued with her thought.

"Well," She began. By this point there were mixed faces in the crowd. Confusion, surprise, suspense, and even a sly smirk from Ares as if he was expecting something good to come out of her mouth. "What if his fatal flaw is the only thing that has kept him going this long?" Now Poseidon adopted a similar reaction to Hermes and blinked in confusion.

"I don't understand." He said, looking conflicted. Athena stood up and placed her hands on the surface before her, leaning forward. Her expression was serious which seemed to make this sudden question even more surprising to them.

"Think about it," She implored. "Perseus is stronger when in company, his whole personality screams annoyingly confident and in-control, ordinarily. But what has he been like alone? Scared, lost, angry…He's always standing up for his friends or family, but when has he stood up for himself?" She examined their expressions and even looking past Ares' scowl she could see surprise and confusion. "When has he fought when someone else wasn't at risk?" Athena tried to think of a time in the books where he was alone with only his life on the line, but the only thing that came to mind was the battle with the Fury. That was it, that was the only thing that came to her out of the top of her head. But even if there were other moments, it could still be argued that he was thinking about his family and how he needed to be alive to protect them.

Zeus placed his elbow on the surface and propped his chin up with his fist. "Where is this coming from, Athena?" He questioned. More than once in the books Percy made comments about wanting to be put out of his misery, it was blaringly obvious that he was suicidal when you considered that. Heck, in The Sea of Monsters he out-right says that he wishes he was dead. Athena turned her gaze to her father with an expression like stone.

"I read a book, Father." She told him. He raised an eyebrow at her and adjusted himself in his seat.

"What book could you possibly have-?" He was cut off when Athena slapped The Lightning Thief on the surface in front of him. Zeus lowered his eyes to examine it and he became angry almost immediately. "What-?!"

Athena glared at him. All she could think staring at him now was that he was enforcing the law that made their children miserable. "Read the book Father and judge not Perseus, but yourself." Everyone was silent and for a moment father and daughter just stared at one another, glare meeting glare. No one ever talked in such ways to Zeus, not unless they wanted something bad to come out of it (or they were his brothers), but by some miracle Zeus loosened his fist and grabbed the book in a show of displeasure. Athena grinned, she knew she must have gotten her curiosity from somewhere. "When you're finished, Father," she said, and Zeus turned an eye on her. "If you find yourself angry, take it out on yourself." She gave him a pointed look and Zeus nodded in understanding.

Athena turned on her heel and stepped out into the semi-circle of amazed stares that were planted on her. Zeus watched her with a suspicious, if not concerned expression. "What is that?" Poseidon asked, turning his gaze on the book. Without even looking his way Athena smirked.

"Read for yourself." She told him.

"I hope you don't expect all of us to read it," Ares said. "Reading is a stupid waste of time." Athena snickered.

"Now isn't that too bad?" She replied, fading away the very next second.

…o0o…

There she stood in Camp Half-Blood, disguised, hoping not to be noticed for once. She watched her daughter open her arms and pull her boyfriend into a hug, and for once she didn't even think twice about it. Athena did notice something about the hug itself however, something she hadn't ever thought about before. As their arms wrapped around one another and their bodies met, they both stiffened. It was subtle, no one else would have noticed, but Athena was looking for exactly those kinds of details.

Wasn't it interesting? That two people so comfortable with one another would tense up when they hugged? It only took a few moments for Athena to figure out why. Here she was, staring at two people who have gone through more horrible things together then anyone ever should at their age. Fending off monsters, titans, and gods just to keep themselves alive. Watching their peers betray them, some closer than others. Standing by almost helpless as the gods do only the bare minimum to help.

And suddenly, the wisdom goddess realized why. It was their body's natural reaction to danger, to tense up the moment they're being struck. They had been through that so many times in their life that it was now their body's natural reaction to physical touch, to see all contact to the skin as a threat. They couldn't even hug each other without feeling discomfort. Athena frowned and swallowed back the sadness in her throat as she watched them smile to each other, say I love you to each other.

She wondered how they could walk through the few peaceful moments with a smile on their faces. Then it hit her. How could the gods be so ignorant? Of course, they couldn't possibly know how their children are feeling, they are mortal! They don't live forever, for them there _is_ a limit. If a loved one dies they're gone forever, there's no indication that they'll ever see them again, especially if they have the choice of rebirth. If they get hurt it's long lasting, it's an impression that's left in or on them for the rest of their life. For them things don't last forever, but they take the most out of it that they can get. There's no option of instant replacement and there are few things that will ever fill those holes.

No wonder mortals often have one spouse and divorce others. No wonder they make the most out of every moment. No wonder their life it a rollercoaster of emotion and discovery. No wonder they rarely reach their full potential. Yet, these fragile, temporary creatures do more in their short life-times then the gods have done in several millennia. These creatures have conquered their mortality by making moments to remember. By building relationships that will last, because they will _all_ expire eventually. By destroying the boundaries, and building new walls.

It angered Athena when she thought about how some of them could be, spending all their time making sure that all their short lives are miserable. With an array of ridiculous things from depression and frustration, to overuse of drugs and alcohol, to terrorism and murder. Why would they do that to themselves? Why waste time on such useless and unsuccessful activities? Why throw away the joy that can come out of their lives for evils such as those? To someone as logical as her it was almost the equivalent of getting a papercut and saying: "Hey, I think I'll pour lemon juice on that."

Of course, she does come off sounding like quite the hypocrite, doesn't she? Why should they ever listen to her? Haven't the gods done all these things and more? Athena sighed at these realizations as she watched Annabeth kiss Percy. She looked around to see her children laughing with others, some working with the Hephaestus cabin, others arguing with the Aphrodite and Ares cabins. She felt herself smirk slightly. To think, she was missing all of this over a law that she could not break.

The wisdom goddess stood up and paced the camp, taking in the scene with an eye out for detail. She stopped when she spotted Chiron staring at her, with an eyebrow raised, as if to ask her what she thought she was doing. She respected Chiron's own keen eye for detail, for Athena had disguised herself as a regular camper. She was even wearing the signature orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and all, but Chiron knew every camper. Athena calmly approached the old centaur and smiled at him. "It seems you've discovered me, Chiron." She told him.

Chiron nodded respectfully at her. "Lady Athena." He greeted. Athena smiled and turned to stare where his gaze lingered, only to see nearly the whole camp from this angle, although she was sure with Chiron's added height that he really could see all of it. "And what have you discovered, if I may ask?" Athena frowned and sighed.

"There are things I haven't thought about before," she admitted. "And I'm ashamed I didn't discover them sooner." Silence followed her words and Athena had a feeling that his silence meant that Chiron understood her. So, together the wisdom goddess and the centaur stood and watched the campers.

Athena had to wonder what it was like to fear for your life every day, knowing that there will always be something chasing after you. She wondered how it felt to be wounded knowing that death was a very real possibility. And she wondered more, watching, and admiring the campers. How would she have felt in their situation? How would she have survived? She found herself asking questions about certain campers she spied, and Chiron would answer her calmly with sadness or admiration behind his eyes.

One of the campers was mute. No one had ever heard him say a word since his father died. The wisdom goddess watched as he walked around camp like a ghost among the crowd, a sickly vacant expression on his face, as though he couldn't feel anything. His brown eyes conveying an unimaginable loss, as if he were reliving the single most heart-wrenching moment he'd ever witnessed.

Another camper, a short girl wearing a comically over-sized sweatshirt, had a history of cutting herself. Athena could tell she was an Aphrodite girl just by a second's glance. Her skin was flawless and her eyes extremely colorful. It made it that much more depressing when Chiron informed the goddess that the day the girl had walked into to camp she was concerningly skinny. She had always told herself that she wasn't pretty enough, and it took a lot to get her comfortable with herself again. The wisdom goddess frowned.

Of course, she couldn't forget the young blonde with eyes that mirrored her own. The girl was very peppy and eager to speak her mind, but the realization that her friends were worse off than herself made her feel helpless to aid them. She had a healthy and proud father at home, anxiously awaiting her return after every summer and every day she talked about how much she missed him.

Athena struggled to hold back the tears as she patiently listened to everything Chiron had to say. It was frankly upsetting that the gods would complain about such petty and meaningless things when there were problems like these in world. It made her feel disgusting as she stood there, witnessing it all. At that moment, she decided that it was time for things to change. She turned to meet Chiron's eyes, which was a rather awkward effort. "Thank you, Chiron." She said, smiling.

"It was my pleasure." He replied, nodding respectfully, and clopping a hoof. Not a moment later Athena willed herself away once again.

…o0o…

This time Athena stood in the Poseidon cabin, letting her eyes wander around the room. Off on a wall she noticed a few pictures hanging up, most of them depicting Percy's mother or his friends, but one picture caught the goddess' eye. It was a picture of Percy with a boy Athena had never seen before. She stepped in for a closer look and found carelessly scrawled text on the border. Upon further inspection, the wisdom goddess saw that the text read: _Haley Riordan, one of the cooler mortals_.

Ah, well that certainly explained a few things. "What the Hades?" Athena spun around almost immediately, only to come face to face with the protagonist of the book series she had been reading. Percy Jackson stood in the door way of the Poseidon cabin with an expression full of understandable shock. "What are you doing in here?" Athena blinked and looked down at herself only to remember that she was still disguised. She snapped her fingers and the disguise was gone, but Percy looked even more confused than he had before. "What are you doing here?" He repeated. "Are you even supposed to be in here?"

"Am I _allowed_ to be in here?" She corrected. "Well, to put it in the simplest of terms; I don't care." Percy nodded, seeming unsure.

"That only answers one of my questions." He pointed out. Athena rolled her eyes and turned back to stare at his pictures.

"In truth, I've come here to thank you, Perseus." She told him, turning back around to lock eyes with him. His pupils widened a bit in surprise and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"What for?" He questioned. Athena sighed and clenched her fist in an effort to ignore her pride.

"I have read your series of autobiographies," She told him. "Through them I have realized many things I had never considered, including just how much you and my daughter love each other."

"It's a little late if you've come here to tell me you approve." Percy replied. Athena rolled her eyes, deciding Percy's personality was more suited to a book.

"I appreciate you taking care of her." She added. Percy smiled.

"We kind of take care of each other." He told her. It was Athena's turn to smile.

"I hope you know that there's a lot of people that love you, Perseus." She said, suddenly, with a sympathetic frown.

"I do." The son of Poseidon assured her.

"Do you?" the wisdom goddess questioned.

"I have a lot of amazing people in my life." He told her, sounding suspicious. It didn't take too long for Athena to recognize that his guard was up. The boy most likely thought that she was about to turn the conversation cold any second. After all, they hadn't exactly had any heart to hearts before, and the wisdom goddess never did seem the friendliest towards him. She supposed it did come off as rather odd that she seemed to care about his wellbeing all the sudden.

"I don't think you're fully aware of just how much people appreciate you, Perseus." She continued. "I think you are aware of how much _you_ appreciate them and I think that appreciation causes you to strive to keep them safe." Percy's suspicion seemed to linger, but the intensity of the feeling was starting to fade. Athena noticed it first in his shoulders, when they lowered slightly, as if he were lowering his barriers. Of course, it was understandable that he would remain alert.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked. "Why the sudden change of…" Percy paused, clearly considering his next words carefully. "…opinion?" Athena nodded to herself, positive that the word he was originally considering was, in fact, "heart". The son of the sea god appeared annoyed almost, along with confused. Athena lowered her head and pondered the answer quietly to herself.

"As I said," She began, raising her head to meet his eyes. "I read your series of autobiographies. Reading about one's own experiences and opinions in life can change your point of view on them as a person, I suppose." Percy frowned in disbelief, clearly having a hard time accepting that as the truth. After too many moments of an insufferable silence, the goddess sighed and decided to speak. "I fear I may have misjudged you, Perseus." The corner of the boy's mouth peaked a bit, almost as if he were smirking, but Athena wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"You wouldn't be the first." He told her. Athena broke eye contact with him once more, staring at the grey wooden floor in thought. She supposed he was right. After all, she had not too recently read about his life, and there she found that the gods had jumped to many conclusions about his character over just a missing lightning bolt. It wasn't far-fetched to assume that she would be the last either. The wisdom goddess frowned as she considered this.

"There are people in your life who _are_ aware of where you stand in this world, Perseus." She told him. "Focus on them." She stared at him for a minute too long, waiting for any sort of physical reaction, but he only flinched at her uncomfortable gaze. She met his sea green eyes once more, which appeared a dull shade in his confusion.

"I don't get it." Percy told her. Out of the corner of her eye, Athena noticed that Percy was rubbing his fingers together, if she had to guess it was probably a nervous tick, but she could never be sure.

"What are you having trouble with, Perseus?" She questioned, tilting her head in a show of intrigue.

"It's like you're worried about me." He answered. "Why would you be worried about me?" He stared deep into her eyes, with a frown on his face, and Athena felt slightly uncomfortable. She shifted in place and found herself staring at the grey wooden floor once more.

"I will not explain again." She told him. "I will say, though," She looked up again, but stared past his face. "Give yourself more credit, Perseus." Percy blinked and he gave her a look that basically said: _What?_ And Athena couldn't help but snicker. "Goodbye, Perseus."

"Goodbye, Lady Athena." He replied, politely, clearly uncertain what to think of the conversation. Athena grinned and faded away upon her whim, but she didn't completely disappear before she saw the half-smirk on the son of Poseidon's face. She couldn't help but wonder if it was even possible to understand him.

…o0o…

Days marched past as the wisdom goddess spent most of her time expanding her mind. She watched how demigods reacted with each other, she listened to her children plan during the capture the flags, and she was always careful to note the details. She found there was so much more to discover then what only five books could convey, and she was absorbed in her lust for information.

Once or twice Chiron would nod at the random girl in camp, who looked all too much like a goddess when you payed her attention. The centaur would smile at her and she would always return the smile with ease. Once, she passed by Percy and he raised an eyebrow, but spared a small smile as he walked away. Athena could only assume he went back home to his mother's apartment since she never so much as spied him again. Her daughter went off in search of some sort of relative the day before and Athena saw them bid each other goodbye. And from then on it was only a matter of time before her children found her out.

It was maybe weeks later when she was sitting on her throne once more, discussing the books with the other gods. When, suddenly she felt something shift inside her. It was as if something wasn't quite right, like a piece of her had just faded away. She was all too aware of the feeling and a stern expression made its way upon her face. "Excuse me." She told her peers as she willed herself away.

Moments later she found herself in a forest. The wisdom goddess could hear shouting and what sounded like stones hitting trees. She approached the racket only to find the reason for her coming here, right in her path. Below her, on the ground, there lied the feathery outline of a great horned owl, a rock smeared with red lying next to it. The feathers on the magnificent fowl's head were stained with his own blood. But it wasn't just any regular great horned owl that lay at her feet, it was a certain bird she had blessed with the gift of swift flight for his help in aiding a hero. The wisdom goddess was furious.

Athena gripped her spear tightly as she made her way over to the source of her fury. She was determined to get justice for her sacred friend. It was when she got closer did she decipher the shouting. "He's not dead! He can't be dead!" cried a voice, each exclamation punctuated with the sound of a stone pelting an obstacle. Athena paused in her tracks, something about that line of dialogue struck her hard. "It's not fair!" It was a girl's voice, she didn't sound too old nor too young Athena noted.

The wisdom goddess regained her bearings and stepped out from the cover of the trees and into full view of anyone who might be beyond. She made sure her aurora cast a feeling of overwhelming power over the vicinity as she gazed upon the girl she knew was responsible. She was a short girl with medium length copper colored hair and baby blue eyes full of rage and tears. Her face was stained with lines of salt water and her expression hard with a scowl. "I am the wisdom goddess Athena," She introduced pacing around the girl. "You dare harm my sacred animal?!" Her voice boomed and bounced off the trees, causing the girl to flinch.

"What are you talking about, lady?!" she screamed. Athena held her hand out over the ground and her feathery companion appeared there in front of them, the stone still lying next to him. The girl was struck stiff for a moment and she darted her eyes between Athena and the fallen fowl. She seemed to have realized something and her hands started to shake as her shoulders fell. "I-I…I didn't know." She replied, voice shaking with sadness and fear. "I didn't mean it." The girl dropped the remaining stone.

Athena kept her expression hard as she stalked around the girl. "There is no excuse for this." She said, slamming the tail end of her spear into the dirt as if to stress her point.

"Please," The girl pleaded, her voice growing quieter. "I just lost my father…I didn't…know." Athena blinked, everything she'd learned from the past few weeks suddenly hit her. This girl was being honest, she really had no idea what she had done, grief had made her blind. Athena met her eyes with a gaze so commanding that she couldn't look away.

"Tell me, girl," She said. "What is your name?"

"La-Layla." She managed, her voice catching. Tears were streaming down her face, faster than they had before and Athena felt remorseful. The goddess frowned and waved her hand over the body of the fallen and the owl seemed to fall into dust. She wished she could have done more for him, but she had no control over the dead. "Was…was he your pet?" Athena snickered almost bitterly to herself. Clearly the girl's mortal mind couldn't fully comprehend the situation.

"He was a friend." She replied, seating herself on a nearby boulder.

"I'm so sorry." Layla replied, biting her lip. "Dad would be so disappointed in me." Athena raised an eyebrow and set her spear against a nearby tree, then dropped her shield to the dirt the very next second. The girl blinked at her and Athena had to wonder what _she_ was seeing.

"All is forgiven," She said. She then smiled gently at Layla. "Tell me what happened." Her curiosity getting the better of her once again.

It turned out Layla's father died in a car accident just outside the forest and her mother was completely torn up. Layla had to leave because she felt that her mother needed her space for the moment, before she should comfort her. Layla and her father were actually very close and, in Layla's own words, he meant the world to her. It was hard to hear he was gone and she couldn't believe she had taken the life of an innocent animal in her own fury. "It just goes to show how fragile we can be sometimes." She commented.

Athena nodded as she listened and for the first time she heard how a mortal, how a true human, saw the world. And what she discovered didn't disappoint. "You know," She said, stopping Layla's story. "I think you'll get through this, Layla." Layla's eyes sparkled.

"Really?" She asked, and then she frowned. "You're just a stranger that I stupidly ranted to in my grief, what would you know?"

"A lot more now." Athena told her, honestly. "I've learned a few things about temporary life…" Athena gazed off into the distance, as she was absorbed in her thoughts. "And believe me when I say that you are stronger then you realize." She turned to see Layla's expression and found that the girl was smiling at her.

"Thank you, Athena," She replied. "I sure hope so."

…o0o…

It was only after that did Athena feel she had figured it all out. She had come to discover that the mortals weren't any less of beings then the gods. If anything, they were stronger. She became more patient with them and although her pride was a hard obstacle to overcome, she managed to get past it. That's not to say she wasn't ruthless though. No, she _did_ teach the corrupt who was in charge. She taught the evil how to fear the mighty power of the gods.

There were others who'd followed a similar path, but of course not all the gods could be swayed, and Athena understood that. She could handle that. She smirked as she picked up The Lost Hero, rereading it for the third time that week. In the meantime, she was still the wisdom goddess, which meant she'd enjoy a good book in between the daily aggravations of life on Olympus.

She would still roll her eyes at Aphrodite's comments. She would still argue with Ares. She still didn't get along with Poseidon. She still obeyed the laws her father enforced. Oh, and she did give Hermes grief after all like she promised Hestia. Except now, she had a better understanding of everything and she could face a problem with a new perspective.

Perhaps then, next time she'll be more open to the next book someone drops in her lap. The wisdom snickered to herself as she flipped a page. No. That would be _far_ too easy.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for reading it all! I know it was pretty long. It goes on record as the longest one-shot I have ever written. It is 10,144 words, not counting the A/Ns, and 18 and a half pages, also not counting the A/Ns. It was originally supposed to be a contest entry, by I missed the dead-line by a longshot due to life, so…that dream was blown out of the water. XD**

 **Please express your thoughts in a review. Tell me what you thought of how I displayed the characters. Was anyone a little too OOC? Aside from Athena, because that's kind of the point. Tell me what you thought of the description. Just feel free to tell me what you thought of it in general. Constructive criticism is welcome, but flames WILL be ignored.**

 **I would like to give a final thanks to Twin-books and Ethempat for helping me edit this to make it as amazing as possible. You guys are amazing! And I'd like to thank RingWraithYJLOVER and nocturnal-song for the extra emotional support. You guys are too kind. :)**

 **And that's all. So, again, thanks for reading and have a spectacular day! :D**

 **Samantha's Library.**


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